Recently in Girl Scouts in the News Category

Girl Scout Troop 8454 is a troop combined of 4 schools in
the Mobile area, mostly St Lukes Episcopal School. We feel our success stems from a multi-level
approach of opening many doors for girls in order for them to explore the
avenues of personal and academic growth outside of the boundaries of school.

This year we adopted water as our theme. Friday, Nov 1, 2013 was our first venture to
navigate these waters (pun intended!) of how what we drink gets from the
atmosphere to our homes, via pumping stations.
With the help of MAWSS (Mobile Area Water & Sewer System) we were
able to get a private tour of S. Palmer Gaillard Pumping Station and
accompanying Converse Reservoir (Big Creek Lake).

We learned that this pumping station was created in order to
serve the growing population of greater Mobile from the 1950's. The 3600-acre storage lake has 26 miles of
shoreline, is fed by 5 creeks and is connected to the pumping station.

We learned that when the lake fills with too much water, the
nearby spillway gates open and release the extra water. We also learned that after water is pumped
into the station, it leaves through 60-inch pipes and goes to one of two
treatment facilities to make the water drinkable. Last, we learned by modeling how different
forms of pollution affect watersheds and the area in which we live and play.

This event was a wonderful STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math) opportunity because we learned that gravity assists
moving water to the treatment facilities (science), the importance of pumps in
generating the initial movement to the facilities (technology), the use of dams
and spillways to allow or refrain water movement (engineering) and math because
we calculated that the 26 miles of lakeshore to be over 450 football fields.

A great big thanks to Mr. Benny White and Mrs. Lucinda Sully
at MAWSS for taking their time to teach us about water!

What began as a Girl Scout project has become a source of community pride and participation as Loachapoka residents embrace their new public library and the opportunity to reach out to younger readers in the community.

Thanks to Girl Scout Cadet Kaitlin Connelly of Troop 7098 in Auburn, Loachapoka residents now have free access to books any hour of the day or night at three Loachapoka 24/7 Libraries, located in the small community near Auburn.

Donation boxes are located at Miller's Store and Wilton's Catering (next door to the Loachapoka Post Office), both on Highway 14, and at Crabb's Grocery on Lee Road 188.

Readers do not need money or a library card to access the mailbox-like units and are simply asked to leave a book for use by someone else, if they happen to have one they wish to share.

Connelly's work toward her Silver Award began in June and quickly gained the support of Marcus Crabb, owner of Crabb's Grocery on Lee Road 188, where one of the boxes is located. He and a friend built the first library box that Connelly then allowed children in the 21st Century Learning Initiatives program at Loachapoka Elementary School.

"Every time I told someone about this they were excited about it," Connelly said. "The children were really excited."

Connelly said making the decorations helped the children feel ownership over the boxes and encouraged them to use the books.

"The libraries are aimed to the children, but adult books are also in there," she said. "There are early readers and teen books. Pretty much any book may be in there."

Community support has not only come from the businesses where the boxes now stand, but has also included book and monetary donations from individual community members, plus building supplies from Home Depot and Ace Hardware in Auburn.

The Loachapoka 24/7 Libraries have complemented the new public library which opened just over a year ago and has limited hours from 3-7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They were recently adopted as a part of the library and use a collection of about 200 books that are also now part of the library's collection.

Loachapoka 24/7 Libraries are an adaptation of Little Free Libraries, which has a site at Cary Woods Elementary School in Auburn, but differ because they are associated with the public library.

Kaitlin, daughter of Brian and Cora Connelly of Auburn, is expected to receive her Silver Award in November.

To learn more, visit the Loachapoka 24/7 Libraries Facebook page or contact the Loachapoka Public Library.

Our own Erin has been selected as one of GSUSA's National Young Women of Distinction. Erin
earned her Gold Award in 2009 with her project "Life's Landing Pad" and is one
of only 10 girls nationwide selected for this award.

Read more about Erin's
project on the GSUSA website http://www.girlscouts.org/convention/whats_happening/ywod.asp. Erin is a 2009 graduate of Citronelle High School, and is currently a
junior at Judson College. She will speak
at the National Convention in Houston this November, where she will receive her
award and a scholarship.

Are you an outgoing person who would like to
inform others about why Girl Scouting is important to you? Then submit your
application to be a Girl Scout Press Rep! Girl Scout Press Reps can be girls or
adults, who enjoy public speaking or writing and would like to represent the
council.

Press reps
will hone their writing skills and learn about different kinds of media by
participating in It's Your Story- Tell It! Journey-based activities.
Press reps will be required to write at least three articles during the year
about Girl Scout activities for possible publication. As part of the 100th
Anniversary, press reps are encouraged to attend the anniversary celebrations
and submit photos, videos, or articles.

Parents, it is very important to note that the majority of
representation for the council will be internal to the Girl Scout community -
through our website, blogs and newsletters.

To apply, submit the
following application by September 15. Applications will be reviewed and
confirmations sent by September 30. There will be a Press Rep Workshop in
Montgomery and Mobile. A snack will be provided at both.• Montgomery
Workshop: October 17, 2011 from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.• Mobile Workshop: October
18, 2011 from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

Girl Scouts are finding ways to help their Sister Girl Scouts in Japan! Here are three examples:

A second grade Girl Scout started a blog titled 1,000,000 Pennies for Girl Scouts of Japan. Elisabeth has
decided to start on a journey to try to collect one million pennies, by her
birthday in April, to be donated to the Girl Scouts of Japan to aid in their
relief efforts. While a million pennies may seem an
unreachable goal, half the fun is the journey! Currently, Elisabeth has
collected 20,445 pennies! Help her on her way here: penniesforjapangs@yahoo.com. In
Oregon, KTVL News 10 reports that
50 Girl Scouts in Medford helped fold and link 1,000 paper cranes Saturday night
to be sent to Girl Scouts in Japan as a token of friendship. After September
11th, Girl Scouts from Japan sent over strings of 1,000 cranes. In Asian
countries the crane is a symbol of happiness, and the act of stringing together
exactly 1,000 is a gesture of healing. Fifteen-year-old Girl Scout Cassie P.
said it takes about 25 folding steps to make the cranes, but it was well worth
it.

Because of the recent
devastation in Japan, the policy that prohibits Girl Scouts from raising money
for other organizations has been temporarily suspended. To contribute to
earthquake and tsunami relief efforts, you can make an online donation to the
newly established Girl Scouts of Japan Relief
Efforts.

There are so many ways we can help our Sister Girl Scouts in Japan; what might your troop do to help?

Did you know? There are 3 Girl Scout FIRST Lego League teams in a field of
over 120 teams in the FIRST Lego League Global Innovation Award competition!
The winner of the Global Innovation Award will receive a grant for up to
$20,000 to fund a full utility patent for their device and start getting
it out to others who need it. The top 3 are invited to the Awards Ceremony in
Washington D.C and will present their project to the US Patent and Trade Office!

Voting
closes on Friday, March 18 and Girl Scouts need votes.. Please vote for them daily from every IP address available. This would do a huge favor to the
girls and show people all the wonderful things girls can do when they are
empowered.

Six
Cadettes from Troops 955 and 150 of Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa researched and created a prosthetic hand device
to help a little girl in Georgia who was born without fingers on her right hand.
They were able to craft a
device that allowed her to hold a pencil and write for the first time in her
life! The Global Innovation
Award they are competing for is open to Lego League teams around the world. The
goal is that through on-line votes these girls can earn $ to help with patenting
this device they created. Their project needs your support and the support of
Girl Scout troops in your Council. More votes = greater chance to earn $ for
the patent process.

You can vote daily from home, work, smart phones.
You can vote once per IP address. This means, if your workplace has a
single server and somebody has already voted, it won't register another vote.
The upside to this is that you could potentially vote several times from your
smart phones! Forward it home and vote from there, check out the local coffee
shop's wifi etc... Please take the time to vote daily, share their link with
others and encourage them to vote as well.

Excellent news! The Girl Scout Research Institute is celebrating its 10th Anniversary tomorrow, November, 4, with an exciting event "Who's that Girl? Self-Image in the 21st Century". This event will take place in New York City but we can join via Ustream at 5:30 p.m. central standard time when the panel begins. At the event, GSUSA will be releasing new findings from a new study on girls and social media, including this refreshing statistic:

"92 percent of girls would give up all of their social networking friends if it meant keeping their best friend." - Girl Scout Research Institute, 2010

On the Ustream, guests will be hearing from a panel of adult and girl culture experts including Emme, supermodel and founder, Body Image Council, Maya Enista, CEO, mobilize.org, Gabi Gregg, MTV Twitter Jockey, Peggy Orenstein, Contributing Writer, New York Times Magazine; and Janie Victoria Ward, professor of education, Simmons College. We will also hear from a panel of girls from the New York City area.

Girl Scouts of the USA is working with Entertainment One, the distributors of the new film "The Secret of Moonacre," to spread the Girl Scouts 2010 brand campaign messaging. We are pleased to share that the Girl Scouts' "What Did You Do Today?" campaign video has been included as a feature on all DVDs and Blu-rays of "The Secret of Moonacre" - currently available in stores.

An acclaimed adaptation of the beloved, classic children's novel The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, "The Secret of Moonacre" is a new family fantasy spectacle directed by Gabor Csupo ("Bridge to Terabithia") that stars up-and-coming actress Dakota Blue Richards along with Ioan Gruffudd, Tim Curry and Natascha McElhone. This fairy-tale adventure - complete with magical castles, unforgettable characters and mythical beasts - is rated PG, and is Dove Family-Approved.

Visit "The Secret of Moonacre" website for more information. There you will also find a special article posted for Girl Scouts of the USA that explains "How Dakota Blue Richards became Maria Merryweather."